Sediment filter for bath plug

Do such things exist? I can only find filters for incoming water, not what goes down the drain. Plenty of plug strainers with big holes for debris and hair, but will let mud sediment and grit right through.

I have no outdoor space to wash muddy gear. No outdoor space at all, in fact, and nowhere public to reasonably do it either, let alone with water and lighting. When I drive to ride (which is most of the time), I generally rinse things down before packing up the car to come home. But sometimes that doesn’t happen, or I ride from home, so I end up at home with dirty kit to be cleaned off in the bath. Draining the bath without letting the sediment down, and then wiping up the sediment to dispose of separately is tedious. And washing it down is I fear would clog the pipes up eventually.

So I would like some fine washable maybe fabric filter like you have on a vacuum cleaner, to go over the plug hole.

A garden centre pressure washer – you pump it up and build pressure up to allow a fine mist or jet out. Can you rinse at doorstep?
The pressure washer can be filled from tap on bath so hopefully a very small hassle to do (do before going out and leave at door so you access it before dirtying up the house after a ride.

Thanks I was half expecting ideas not to wash dirty kit in the bath 🙂

I do have a HydroShot for the trail car park washing I mentioned.

I have no outdoor space of my own (as I said), nor any nearby public or shared outdoor space where I can wash dirty shoes, trousers, and jacket. The kind of things that need a few buckets worth of hot water and detergent to do.

May as well be living in a skyscraper for the purposes of this question.

I mostly washed/rinsed my kit (Bike included) in the bathroom for nearly 3 years. I had outside space, but the chances of the bike disappearing was, errrr, quite high. So bathtub/shower it was.

Usually left the plug in, let the solids settle and fished out the lumps/grass, other times just fished it out when the drainage slowed.

Never had any issues, just made sure to clean the tub and then have my shower/bath afterwards and get a shed load of water down the plug hole.

Also, bike was usually ridden to and from the trail so a lot of the worst of the mud was deposited on the road, or knocked/scraped off after the ride.

TBH, if you’re really worried something like a mesh kitchen sink strainer could probably be modified to do a reasonable job. Only leaving a small amount of residue going into the drains. Enough that a shower would get it out and down into the sewers.

Google sink strainer, seems a lot of different options.

https://amzn.eu/d/evQm78g

I

Add an extra step and it get’s easier. Do your mucky rising in a baby bath (you get collapsible, folding and inflatable ones now for not much wonga) or garden trug. Then empty that down the bath by pouring through a colander lined with a towel or open cell foam.

Just wash it down the drain. Pipes are designed to cope with much larger things than a bit of sand…

If you’re really bothered, then wash it in a sink with an easily removable U bend, or one that drops directly down into a soil pipe.

So I would like some fine washable maybe fabric filter like you have on a vacuum cleaner, to go over the plug hole.

Find one of the regular strainers that fits well and stretch some tights over it maybe. Theres a limit to how effectively you can filter at the plug though because all you’ll achieve is turning the filter into a plug as soon as it catches any sediment.

An alternative might be to come up with some solution to clearing the sediment the u-bend traps – so if you have a hydroshot type thing see if you can jury-rig something that can fit through the holes in the plughole and agitate / clear any build up

Add an extra step and it get’s easier. Do your mucky rising in a baby bath

Actually I had to make a make-shift plaster trap once.

Look for a container that would fit neatly in your bath, under the tap. Drill a decent size hole to create an overflow near the top and rinse clothes etc in that, running water fresh water in as needed and letting it overflow. Leave it to settle and the crud will sink to the bottom. Tip the water out through the overflow once it’s settled then the rest can go down the loo.

How about leaving the bath water to stand for a while, and then sucking the worst out using something like a pond hoover – https://amzn.eu/d/1IBspRu

Plug strainers/hair traps will do the job if you pick one with reasonably fine holes. We have one in the shower and it does a great job of trapping the debris from MrsIHNs muddy trail running legs and my muddy cycling legs.

You don’t need open space though…stand at side of road and rinse yourself off…the mud goes in the gutter and washes away. Or do it in front of your door, then gives it a brush to get the mud away…
A large bucket filled with water and you dump the manky clothes in there and it a slosh about to remove most of the dirt (and then top bucket in gutter at side of road)…
If it is just mud then wash it in the bath and give it a good mix about so it breaks down into much smaller bits and it’ll go down the drain no bother. If bothered, every 6 weeks, top a cheap drain unblocked down the plug hole to make sure it is clear.

I happened across this the other day, and will probably get one, as the fricken stupid plug on our kitchen sink is always blocking or is pushed close, this looks like a (Warning: link goes to Temu, some ppl might find this offense ;D) great option .

Wash it in the toilet, problem solved.

Honestly, I think you’re overthinking this. Any sediment small enough to pass through a plughole strainer is surely unlikely to clog the drain unless it’s already clogged with hair and unmentionables to start with?

Google sink strainer, seems a lot of different options.

https://amzn.eu/d/evQm78g

Did you even read what I said? Of course I’ve tried google and amazon with a few different terms.

 I can only find filters for incoming water, not what goes down the drain. Plenty of plug strainers with big holes for debris and hair, but will let mud sediment and grit right through.

How about leaving the bath water to stand for a while, and then sucking the worst out using something like a pond hoover – https://amzn.eu/d/1IBspRu

Now there’s a serious solution!

Wash it in the toilet, problem solved.

Honestly, I think you’re overthinking this. Any sediment small enough to pass through a plughole strainer is surely unlikely to clog the drain unless it’s already clogged with hair and unmentionables to start with?

Fair idea but I don’t think I could bring myself to do it, even after cleaning it thoroughly first.

I think I might be happy to just wash it all down the plug, safe in the knowledge that if it blocks I can return to this thread to damn you all for telling me everything would be fine.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/essentials-sink-bath-unblocker-125mm/13894

There’s your solution. Good luck blocking a 50mm pipe with a bit of (water soluble) mud though.

Just hose the clothes off in the garden before washing them?

Just put the stuff in the washing machine?

A couple of rinses then a wash and it’ll be fine. Possibly.

While I sometimes hose stuff down outside before bringing it in I more often rinse it in the shower, wring it out, then into the washing machine.

The shower is wet room style with 50mm drain. Not blocked it with mud yet.

Just hose the clothes off in the garden before washing them?

if I remember correctly the OP has no garden or outdoor space?

Now there’s a serious solution!

Let me know if you do it – I’m interested in the outcome!

I see for fancy car washing buckets these days have grit guards in them, why not pick up one of those, rinse and wash your clothes in it in the bath and use this to capture the grit and dispose of another way.

but will let mud sediment and grit right through.

Nah, a mesh strainer will stop the grit (though it’ll scratch your bath/shower tray on the way past!) and anything sedimenty that’ll go through a mesh strainer is easier to get down the drain and to the sewer than something like leftover rice.

This is a non issue. Carry on.

If Jamz’s unit won’t shift it then go to stage 2 https://www.screwfix.com/p/magnusson-power-plunger-set-51-62-114mm/217xg

I use both at work but stage 2 will even clear blocked down spouts from ground level or blow commercial kitchen pipework apart 😉

How about some sort of stippled rubber door mat, the type that normally live outside the door.  Put it in the middle of the bath near the plug and it should catch all the dirt before it reaches the plug.

But then you’ve got a dirty mat that you need to roll up and rinse outside, and in that case you’d be better with the previously mentioned car wash bucket with a grit guard in the bottom.

PS I sometimes get in the shower fully clothed when particularly muddy. It’s still only hair that tends to block the u bend, grit seems to go straight through.

Just wash it down the drain. Pipes are designed to cope with much larger things than a bit of sand…

My shower drain pipe has a very shallow fall and blocks easily with soap and hair. A strainer traps those and finer sediments pass through but don’t block the pipe.

Bucket in the bath for the first mucky rinse or two it is, emptying them down the toilet.

Did you even read what I said? Of course I’ve tried google and amazon with a few different terms.

Eh? There’s loads of fairly fine mesh plug hole strainers out there, e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/TRIXES-Sink-Strainer-Shower-catcher/dp/B01DWGXIOI you wouldn’t want it any finer than that otherwise it would just instantly clog and you wouldn’t even be able to push fine dirt through it